


Always Yours

by anssyln



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Friendship/Love, Gryffindor, Hogwarts Era, Love Triangles, Major Original Character(s), Modeling, Muggles, Post - Deathly Hallows, Purebloods, Redeemed Draco, Rival Relationship, Slytherin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-29
Updated: 2013-08-29
Packaged: 2017-12-25 00:02:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/946278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anssyln/pseuds/anssyln
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cleora Iris Ramsey was supposed to be Draco Malfoy's fiancée, but when her family disappeared from Wizarding World 18 years ago, it was all canceled. What will happen when she comes back to wizarding world after the war? What will Draco say when he finds out that she is no longer a witch but a famous model instead?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ramsey Family

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter characters and plot, they all belong to J.K. Rowling.
> 
> By the way, I changed the timeline. Here it is:
> 
> Cleora, Draco, Harry, etc were born: 1993
> 
> Voldemort first downfall: 1994
> 
> Harry, etc first year at Hogwarts: 2004
> 
> Battle of Hogwarts: 2 May 2011
> 
> Present day: September 2011
> 
> I changed it because in this story, Cleora will use some of muggle contraptions (iPhone, Laptop, etc). If I didn't change it, it wouldn't fit with the time :)
> 
> let me know if I make a mistake with the timeline
> 
> and thank you for Katherine aka Saffiria for betaing this chapter :)

  


 

Graphic by me!

**White City, London. 1 September 2011.**

Cleora Ramsey took a deep breath as she poked at her breakfast of homemade blueberry porridge. It had been thirty minutes since her breakfast were served but she had not finished it yet. Cleora, or Cleo, as she prefered to be called, was dreading the upcoming day. Today was the day she went to Hogwarts for the first time. She had been living as a non-magical person-'what were they called again?' she wondered, 'oh yeah, muggle'-for as long as she could remember, but due to the end of the wizarding war, she was finally allowed to use her magical talent and go to, the most famous wizarding school of them all-Hogwarts. Cleo wasn't even sure if she wanted to be a witch. With her career as a model, she did not see why it was necessary to learn magic. With her stunning, heart-shaped face, long, slim legs, and shining ebony eyes, she was used to getting whatever she pleased with a simple eyelash flutter. Was a wand really necessary?

 

 

 

 

 

"Cleora," Cleo's father called to her. At his forty-three years of age, Stephanos Ramsey still looked handsome, with only a slight peppering of grey showing on his dark black hair. Stephanos had grown up as a pureblood in the wizarding world. He was a bit of a recluse, and once he was sorted into Slytherin, he became known for his quiet intelligence. He made a few friends, including Lucius Malfoy, and soon met Luisa Burby. It was loathing at first site. However, after much cajoling by his parents, Stephanos eventually had an arranged marriage with and grew accustomed to Luisa. After all, his parents and his parents' parents, and all those other generations had arranged marriages, and who was he to argue with them? Eventually, Stephanos became used to Luisa's bubbly personality and stubborn ways, to the point where he was  _almost_  fond of her.

 

However, ever since Cleo could remember, Stephanos spent the majority of his days holed up in his study, drafting plans for his muggle job as an architect. He had gotten this muggle job as a means to the ends of looking like a true, hard-working muggle. Ever since Voldemort's supposed death, Stephanos had been too worried about the safety of his family (namely Cleo) to remain a wizard. He abandoned his wizarding ways, and adopted the lifestyle of a muggle. At first he hated being a muggle and felt like he had betrayed his pure-blood enthusiast friends, but he eventually grew to like the simplicity of the muggle world. Today would mark the first day in almost sixteen years that he interacted with the wizarding world, albeit in a roundabout way. "Come on Cleo, hurry up and eat your breakfast. We don't have much time left. Your train is leaving for Hogwarts in two hours."

 

She groaned as she slowly took a big spoon of porridge and shoved it in her mouth. "Do I really have to go?" she whined at her dad.

 

She did not understand this transfer at all. Why did her father agree to send her to Hogwarts in the first place? And since when had there been an exchange program? As far as she knew, this was the first time ever Hogwarts held this program, and this was only the second time Hogwarts had ever tried to contact her, the first being when they sent the original acceptance letter when she was eleven.

 

"Well, yes, darling. You are a witch, after all." Cleo's mother appeared from the kitchen with a sparkling smile. Luisa Burby Ramsey was a lean, fashionable women of forty-two (though she never let on that she was any older than thirty-eight). She was a beauty in her youth, with a stunning, heart-shaped face and chocolate-y brown hair. Her incredibly bubbly personality made her one of the most popular girls in Ravenclaw, if not the whole of Hogwarts the years she was there. She, like Stephanos, originally hated her intended, but grew to adore his reclusive ways and the money he earned with his drafting talent. Her daughter, who was nearly identical to her, with the exceptions of her height and hair, was the pride and joy of her world, and nothing gave Luisa more joy than flaunting her daughter's beauty. Cleo's other talent's were less important than her looks, in Luisa's opinion, 'but,' Luisa thought kindly, 'someday she won't be beautiful and by then she needs wizarding talent to please a rich husband.' Luisa had pressured Stephanos into allowing Cleo to go to Hogwarts, and her husband, as usual, gave in without much fuss. "Ohh I still remember the time when you got your first letter! You were extremely happy with it, baby girl," she added as she took a seat next to her seventeen-year-old daughter.

 

Cleo rolled her eyes before taking another spoon of porridge. "Actually, Mum, I  _was_  a witch. In case you forgot, you guys refused to send me to Hogwarts six years ago because of the first Wizarding war. I wasn't allowed to do magic and you sent me to a muggle school instead. I can't even remember how to use magic anymore."

 

It was true. Because the Ramsey's decided to live as muggles, instead of sending their precious daughter to Hogwarts, in the end they finally to enrolled her in a public school near their house. Cleo had happily been living as a normal, muggle child since.

 

Though, truth be told, their lives were not  _that_  normal. Especially since Cleo joined a modeling agency a year ago. Her mum signed her up, much to Cleo's dismay. She did not want to be a model before she joined, but she had a good deal of success with it, so much that Cleo could not have any personal time due copious amounts of photo shoots and casting calls for television ads. Originally, Cleo hated her modeling job, but she grew to love it, and now she could not imagine her life without it. She really did not want to leave her job, even to go to Hogwarts, another one of the many reasons she resented her parents decision.

 

"Cleo darling, you do know what had been happening to the wizarding world recently, right? The Dark Lord came back. A battle happened in Hogwarts. Lots of people died when it happened. Aurors, teachers, even students..." her dad murmured softly while reaching out for his daughter's shoulder. "You could have died there. What would your mother do without you? We needed you here, with us."

 

Cleo sighed, placing her small hand on top of her dad's. "I know, Dad. I'm sorry. It's just.. I'm not ready for this. What would they say to me when they found out that I'm a muggle?"

 

Her mum flashed her a smile, "I understand, sweetheart. But you're not a muggle. You just don't know how to use your special ability. That is why we are sending you to Hogwarts as an exchange student. You will learn how to do magic again and get to know the wizarding world, and you might even meet new friends there. And besides...," she winked before she added. ".. who would say such a bad thing to you? You are Cleora Ramsey. for God's sake. You are a beautiful young lady, quite famous in Muggle London, surely lots of lads there..."

 

"Mummmmmm," Cleo groaned again before her mum could finish her sentence. She did not need to hear that, especially from her mother.

 

Her parents laughed at that. Even though their daughter was beautiful and quite famous, they still did not have any idea why she did not have a boyfriend yet. It didn't seem like her, to not be dating. Cleo was ahead in almost any other social situation. It seemed a little bit strange. But Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey did not mind too much. In fact, they were quite happy that Cleo was not dating yet. But they still liked to tease their daughter about it.

 

"Anyway, its just for a year, darling. You can go back to your muggle life when you are done with it. Or, if you want to stay in wizarding world, we wouldn't mind that at all. It is up to you, princess," her father said with a genuine smile.

 

She huffed before finally said, "Okay. Fine. A year. I might hate it, but I will do it."

 

"Good. Now finish your breakfast and get your trunk down here. We don't have much time." her father said.


	2. Long Lost Fiancée

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It's always exciting meeting someone new, regardless of the outcome."- unknown quotes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thanks for Katherine for proof reading this chapter. 
> 
> And I still don't own Harry Potter. *sobs*

Graphic by me!

* * *

Draco took a deep breath as he entered one of the empty compartments of Hogwarts Express.

He could not believe this day had finally come. The day he would be back at Hogwarts to repeat his seventh year. This seventh year was a year of firsts: first year without the threat of the Dark Lord, first year with his family disgraced, first year with himself disgraced... The list went on.

The Slytherin actually didn't feel excited about it. If he had to choose, he would definitely have opted not to go back to the school again. He was changed by the war, especially by the Dark Lord's defeat. All he had put his faith in, all that his family had ever put their faith in was wrong. They were the bad guys, and now wizards that had once held his family in high esteem treated them like scum. Going back to Hogwarts would make it even worse. He didn't belong there.

Unfortunately for Draco, his parents didn't allow him to just quit after his sixth year. They thought it was crucial for Draco to finish his education despite all that had happened. Narcissa and Lucius required that he return to school. Hence, here he was, on the Hogwarts Express.

"Draco, mate, it's good to see you."

The blonde smirked when he caught the sight of Blaise Zabini standing near the door. "Hey, Blaise."

"Excited to start another year at Hogwarts?" the Italian asked as he took a seat next to his blond friend.

"You know me, Blaise. When did I ever feel excited to start another year at this pathetic place?" he scowled, making Blaise let out a chuckle.

"Lighten up, mate. I heard there is a new girl joining our year. An exchange student. Theo saw her earlier and he told me that she's bloody fit."

Draco barked out a laugh at his Italian friend. "Blaise, Blaise, still looking for a right girl, I see?"

"Well, this time I'll just let you have her. See how good of a friend am I to you now?" Blaise grinned before standing up from his seat. "I'm gonna go back to my compartment. Pansy, Theo, and Greg are there, why don't you just sit with us?"

"Nah, I'm perfectly content here. You go on then."

Blaise left, after telling Draco which of the seventh years would be returning to Hogwarts. The group would include Potter, Weasley, and Granger, as well as the Patil twins, Longbottom, Finnigan, and several other names. Fucking brilliant.

Ten minutes later, the compartment door was opened again.

Draco, busy reading a book his Mum bought him, snapped his head toward the door, annoyed. However, when he saw the person behind it, the feeling was gone.

A young woman, probably the same age as he was, stood in the doorway. Draco stared at her for a moment.  _Fucking brilliant..._  he thought. She was possibly the most attractive girl he had ever seen. Is this the girl Blaise had mentioned? If so, then he owed Blaise a strong apology.

Amazed by her beauty, Draco didn't remember he was about to snap at this girl.

The girl smiled sweetly at him as she took a step inside the compartment. "Sorry to interrupt, but do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

Draco gaped at her. Who was she, to think that she had the right to sit with a Malfoy. Furthermore, didn't she know that he was disgraced? He simply nodded. "...Yeah."

"Lovely! Thanks," she grinned happily before closing the compartment door and taking a seat in front of him. He nodded and went back to his book. "I don't know whether you already know who I am, but I'm Cleo . And who are you?" she said confidently, now extending her right hand to him.

Draco looked curiously at her from behind his book.  _Who was this girl?_

He stared at this beautiful creature before extending a hand, "Malfoy. Draco Malfoy," he answered, before taking her small hand and shook it.

Merlin, her hand was bloody soft.

He expected her to be surprised upon hearing his name, but what she did next in the end shocked him.

She smiled. Bloody genuinely smiled at him.

Draco didn't see that coming. Come on, he was a death eater! His family were the loyal servants of Voldemort! A lot of people despised him and his family. Only God knows what was Narcissa Malfoy thinking when she lied to Voldemort about the "death" of Harry Potter. Thankfully, what she did in the end saved her family from the trial.

Then why in the name of Merlin she didn't seem to be disgusted and hateful toward him?

"I've never seen you before. Are you new?" Draco finally asked her. His book was now completely forgotten.

"Yes, I am." she nodded. Her smile was still there. "I'm actually completely new with magic."

He stared at her, wide-eyed, taken aback by this. What was that supposed to mean? Was she a fucking muggle? "So... you are a muggle then?"

"Oh, no no! I'm not a muggle. To be honest, I have no idea what I am. It's just complicated," she murmured softly, her smile gone. "You see, I'm actually a pureblood as my parents are both wizards. Or.. they  _were_  is probably the correct word. Unfortunately, my parents are no longer magic-users. They stopped when I was born because of this guy named..." she furrowed her eyebrows, trying to remember the name. "...Voldymore or something. They didn't want to take the risk in case he came back, so they cut themselves off from the magical world and we lived as a muggle family ever since. I don't even remember how to use magic anymore."

He didn't know whether he should be amused by her lack of knowledge or disgusted by the fact that she was technically considered a squib. He may have changed but still. He was a Malfoy. Malfoys weren't supposed to sit with muggles or squibs, let alone become friends with them.

Draco suddenly recalled his father had mentioned several times about a family he used to know who decided to leave the wizarding world years ago. In fact, they were really a good friend to Malfoys at that time. His father always said that Draco was destined to wed their daughter after Hogwarts years, but due to their disappearance, the engagement was cancelled, much to Lucius Malfoy dismay.

Then realisation hit him. He knew this girl.

This is Cleora Iris Ramsey. His fiancée.

* * *

 

Cleo noticed this Draco Malfoy's expression had changed after hearing her confession. Did she say something wrong?

"Is there a problem?"

"No," he shook his head. Before she could ask again, he hurriedly opened his book then started reading it again. But still, she could tell that he didn't really paying attention to the book, judging by his puzzled expression and his frown.

Shrugging softly, she took out her mobile phone and earphones from her bag. While plugging the jack into her phone, she took a glance at this stranger again.

He actually looked pretty attractive with his pale skin, shaggy platinum blond hair, and his cold grey eyes. Truthfully, she didn't really fancy guys with pale skins as she often thought that they looked ill. But this man ... Maybe she would make an exception for him. There was something about him that kinda made her feeling slightly intimidated yet still curious. Plus, his black suits that hugging his slender figure made him looked even hotter.

He was effing attractive!

There, she said it.

And just like that, Cleora found herself feeling self-conscious all of sudden . Did her hair look good? Was there something on her face?

What's wrong with you, Cleora Ramsey? she scolded.

"What in the bloody hell is that thing?" she heard Draco's voice again. She looked up to see him pointing his finger at her iPhone.

"You don't know what this is?" she raised an eyebrow.

He chuckled humorlessly, "Should I?"

 _What a prat._  Cleo gave him an unladylike snort, which Draco still found adorable on his former fiancee . Who would have thought his mysterious ex-fiancee he had never met before would turn out looking like a Goddess like this?

"This, Malfoy, is called an iPhone. It's a smartphone. The muggles use this to communicate with people, like calling people or sending emails. We can also listening to music, take pictures, or whatever we want with this. It's cool, right?" she explained, giving her white iPhone to him which he hesitantly took.

Cleo couldn't help but let a small giggle when she saw Malfoy checking out her mobile phone. Seriously, this wizard... Did he know about any muggle things?

"Smartphone? iPhone? Email? What the fuck are those?" he asked again, dumbfounded. Now he appeared to be more confused than before. "It doesn't look smart as it sounds."

Cleo groaned inwardly. Oh dear... This was going to be hard. With a sigh, she let out her hand again, as if asking him to hand over her phone back. "Just forget it. Now, give it back."

He didn't do so. "Ah, ah, not so fast, Ramsey. You still have some explaining to do."

She furrowed her eyebrows after hearing what Malfoy had called her. "Wait, how do you know my name? I don't recall I gave you my full name earlier."

He froze.  _Damn it, Draco. Way to make things more complicated_ , he thought. But Draco was able to pulled himself together and flashed his famous Malfoy's smirk. "Oh, believe me, love. I know everything about you. You are Cleora Iris Ramsey, daughter of Stephanos and Luisa Ramsey. You were born on 4th of July 1993 in London. You are part Greek, part English. What else, hmm? Oh yes, you are an only child. Well, I'm not sure with that actually, do you have any siblings?"

He tried hard to hold back a laugh when he noticed her staring at him. Her cheeks were flushed red. She was gaping at him, clearly appearing to be embarrassed and annoyed at the same time.

But seconds later, his smirk was completely wiped off when he found himself getting slapped repeatedly on his arm.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?!" he winced, trying to scoot away from his former fiance.

"How did you know all of that? Have you been stalking me? What magazine do you work for, huh?" she bombarded the blonde with questions, her round eyes still glaring at him.

"What the fuck are you talking about? Stalking you? Are you bloody mental? Why in the Merlin's name would I do that?!"

"Don't play dumb to me, Malfoy!"

"I'm not lying to you, woman! For fuck's sake, stay away from me, you abusive girl!" he exclaimed.

Cleo swatted his arm for the last time. But this time was much harder than before, making Draco winced in pain again, surprised at the arm strength that Cleo was exhibiting.

After rolling her eyes and huffed in exasperation, she crossed her arms around her body. "At least I'm not a stalker like you."

It was now Draco's turn to roll his eyes. "Whatever," he said, nonchalantly. Knowing that they would never end their little bickering, he finally decided to change the subject. "So, did the old bat let you to bring this to Hogwarts?" He was now gesturing to the iPhone that he was still holding.

"Old bat? Who?"

"McGonagall."

She suddenly giggled, recalling the old woman who was now the new Headmistress of Hogwarts. Cleo actually had met Professor McGonagall twice. The first was at her house a month ago when she came to offer the exchange program to Cleo and her parents, which Stephanos and Ramsey gladly accepted. And the second was when she accompanied Cleo to Diagon Alley to buy some stuffs for school, like a wand, her school robes, a pet (Cleo decided to buy a white long haired Persian cat, who she named Munchy), a cauldron, some textbooks that she would need, et cetera.

"You call her 'the old bat'? Why? She seems nice to me."

Draco shrugged, "I just don't like her. She also used to be the Head of Gryffindor house, which is Slytherin's long time rival. So I don't like her."

"Ah, the house rivalry thing. My parents has mentioned about it before." she nodded, then added. "I take it you are a Slytherin then."

He snorted while looking away to the window, "Well observed."

Cleo secretly cursed the man in front of her. God, he was such an insufferable git! If she was able to perform magic, she would gladly hex this guy into next year.

"So, have you decided what house do you want to be placed in?"

Cleo pursed her lips for a second. "Nope. Don't know, don't care. But, I know that my mum was in Ravenclaw and my dad was in Slytherin. So I'd probably get sorted between those two. Hey, you haven't answered my question before. How did you know about me and my family?" she asked as she slapped his arm again.

 _Merlin, she really is strong._  He sighed before answering, "Because, Ramsey, our families were friends back then."


	3. The Journey Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Maybe you had to leave in order to really miss a place; maybe you had to travel to figure out how beloved your starting point was.” - Jodi Picoult, Handle With Care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter isn't beta-ed yet, so I apologise if you found some grammar mistakes throughout the chapter. English isn't my native language, but I did the best I could!

Graphic by easterlies @ TDA

To say that she was surprised was definitely an understatement.

Her parents hadn't mentioned anything about Malfoy family whenever they talk about their Hogwarts days to her, not even a slight thing. But then again, not much information were given by them other than the houses thing and the lessons (to be honest, she was looking forward for Potions lesson cause it sounded almost like cooking. Surprise, surprise, Cleo actually liked to cook!).

In a nutshell, whenever Cleo asked further about Hogwarts, they always answered with "just see it yourself", which was after that rewarded by Cleo's whining and constant eyes roll.

"So.. our parents were friends," Cleo murmured slowly, scrunching up her nose in confusion. "but how come they never told me about your family?"

"Don't you think you just asked the wrong person?" he replied coolly with a raised eyebrow then examined his fingers lazily.

Instead of smacking this blonde with her bag, Cleo finally decided to give him a death glare. Seriously, how could a person as annoying as this ever existed? On top of that, why would her parents even want to be friends with this albino's parents? They obviously couldn't be less annoying as their son, could they?

She huffed as she crossed her arms around her body haughtily. "Right. How did you know it was me then? Did you know I was coming to Hogwarts?"

"No, as a matter of fact, I didn't. If it wasn't my friend who told me about this exchange student bullshit, I wouldn't know that you would be here. And second, how many Cleoras out there do you think?"

There was a pregnant pause. He certainly had a point. She had to admit, her name wasn't that common.

"Fair enough. Now, may I have my phone back?"

Draco shook his head, clearly amused at her former fiancee. "Nope. You still haven't shown me how it works."

She groaned in frustration. "You are an insufferable git, you know that?"

"So I've been told several times, yeah."

Cleo rolled her eyes and then let an exaggerated sigh. Darn her parents for sending her to Hogwarts, now she was stuck with annoying-yet-extremely-attractive guy here for God knows how long it would be. No wonder there was no one who sat with him, he probably didn't have many friends.

Meanwhile, Draco just stared at his supposed-to-be fiancée in amusement. He didn't understand why wouldn't she just accio her bloody iPhone with her wand. Didn't she remember that she was a witch at all?

Then it hit him again. Of course she didn't remember.

But, speaking of wand...

"Hey, Ramsey. Where's your wand?" Draco asked, eyeing her appearance again. She didn't seem to have her wand with her.

Her face suddenly brighten at this. She gave him a cute grin before digging through her bag again and pulling out a dark brown looking wand. "Here it is! Look, isn't it lovely?" she beamed, happily showing off her new wand to him.

When she stepped into Ollivander's Wand Shop for the first time, Cleora wasn't sure she would get one because of her non-magic past. But to her relief, after spending fifteen minutes trying out numerous wands and desperately wanted to cry, the choice finally fell on a 11 ¾ inch wand made of English Oak with a unicorn hair as its core. Cleo couldn't help but let out a happy squeal when Mr. Ollivander explained about her wand. People who said unicorns don't exist definitely needed to be smack on the heads.

For the second time, Draco had no idea whether he had to shook his head in dissaproval (she was supposed to always have her wand with her, not keep it inside her bloody bag!) or laugh at her sudden interest. Seeing how happy Cleora with her first wand kinda made Draco recalled the exact same moment that happened seven years ago. Oh how time flied fast..

"Right. If you do have a wand, then why didn't you just snatch your sodding phone with it? You do know some spells right?" he asked again with a smirk on his face, just enough to tease her. He surprisingly found that teasing this black haired girl was really entertaining.

Cleo stupidly blinked at the blond in front of her. Why wouldn't she think of that? Stupid, stupid Cleo.

She took a deep breath as she tried to remember some basic spells that her father had taught her before her departure to Hogwarts. As soon as she remember the spell, Cleo aimed her wand at Draco and murmured carefully, "Accio iPhone."

The white looking phone successfully flew out from Draco's grasp to her hand. Cleo let out a relieved smile, not only feeling grateful because she finally got her precious iPhone back, but also happy that she still had some magic in her.

Maybe going to Hogwarts wasn't bad after all.

Unbeknown to her, it wasn't just her who felt relieved with that.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" Draco rolled his eyes in mocked gesture, earning a slap on his arm again. He winced in pain. "Ow! Would you stop doing that?"

She just stuck out her tongue at him, which made Draco's jaw dropped and his eyebrows furrowed in irritation. He almost swore he was thankful that their engagement was over. Just picturing his married life with her was enough to make him shudder. He didn't need an abusive and annoying wife, thank you very much.

"Oh come on, Dray-co. It wasn't that hard."

"Wasn't that hard?! I bet you 10 galleons my left arm is now bruised because of you!" he exclaimed then narrowed his eyes upon hearing his new nickname from her. How dare she called him by his first name, let alone made fun of it! "And don't call me that, Ramsey. It's Malfoy for you."

"Nope, I've decided I like Dray-co better." she said as she gave him an innocent smile, somewhat getting pleased that she had gotten his nerves back. To be honest, the sight of Draco Malfoy scowling at her wasn't that all bad. He actually looked quite adorable. "Now, still want me to show you how iPhone works?" Cleo added. Her smile was still there.

* * *

 

"Anything from the trolley, dears?"

Hermione who was busy reading an article about the recovery of Ministry of Magic after the war looked toward the compartment door and saw Ron and Harry approaching the trolley lady. She shook her not-so-bushy-now head softly then went back to the newspaper. Her brown eyes finally settled on an a headline about a pureblood family called Ramsey.

 

**_RAMSEY FAMILY: WHERE HAVE THEY BEEN?_ **

**_After mysteriously disappeared for almost 18 years, seems like Ramsey family had chosen the right time for their come back. Stephanos (43) and Luisa Ramsey (39) were reportedly sighted at Diagon Alley along with their daughter, Cleora Ramsey (18). Hogwarts' new Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall was also seen with them. Sources say their appearance in Diagon Alley was due to their daughter participation for the new student exchange program that will be held this year in Hogwarts. (cont. to page 6)_ **

Hermione took a glance at the picture below the headline. There were a handsome middle-aged man and a woman which the Gryffindor assumed as his wife walking down the crowded street of Diagon Alley, smiling. She could see a girl with dark brown long hair trailing behind them, talking animatedly with none other than Professor McGonagall.

Hermione gasped.

Holy shit. She knew this girl. Her face was all over on the billboards in Muggle London for an expensive cosmetic brand ad campaign. Hermione had also seen her faces on fashion magazines that her fashion-freak cousin Danielle owned, like British Vogue, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, et cetera. As far as she knew, this Cleora Ramsey was a new icon in modeling industry and had walked for some of popular designers at the "big four" fashion weeks despite being only eighteen year old.

The Cleora Ramsey was actually a witch and she was coming to Hogwarts. Unbelievable.

"Ron, Harry, what do you know about Ramsey family?" she couldn't help but asked her boyfriend and bestfriend when they were back on their seats.

Harry just shrugged, absolutely had no idea whereas Ron answered "Just that they disappeared long time ago after the first wizarding war. Why, Hermione?"

Instead of answering, she passed the newspaper to them which Ron gladly accepted. She watched the two of them as they read on the article. After 5 minutes passed, she started to talk again. "The thing is, this girl is quite famous in muggle world. Don't you think so, Harry? You've seen her on telly, haven't you? I think she's in cosmetic commercial."

Harry grimaced as he carried on reading, "Can't say I have, Hermione. I haven't watched telly for ages. But.. she is really pretty though, isn't she, Ron?"

"Yeah, yeah, definitely! And blimey, she is coming to Hogwarts!" Ron exclaimed excitedly, which earned him a deadly glare from Hermione. He blinked several times then sheepishly added, "but still, she isn't my type. You are much more beautiful, Hermione."

Shaking his head, Harry snickered at his best mate's pathetic excuse before went back to the article. Hermione's hard expression softened at this, but still had her eyes narrowed at her red-headed boyfriend, not really buying it. She decided to turn her attention to Harry. "So Harry, how's Ginny? Have you asked her out again?"

The emerald green eyed boy answered without even looking away from the newspaper. "She is fine. We both have decided to give it some time. You know, with this post war and such. Plus, I wanna focus on getting good grades on the upcoming N. E.W.T.s for now."

Ron groaned aloud when he heard the word "N.E.W.T.s" coming from Harry's mouth. The idea of repeating seventh year actually didn't interest him at all. Not only because he had to study hard for bloody N.E.W.T.s, but also because the place reminded him of Fred Weasley who had died in the battle. Hermione did have a hard time at first in order to convince him to come back with her.

"Can we not talk about N.E.W.T.s?! Honestly mate, you are starting to sound like my bookworm girlfriend.." Ron whined and winced as Hermione had swatted on his chest.

Harry laughed at his two best friends, putting away the newspaper next to him. "Back to this Cleora girl, do you think she's also on the train with us?"

"I think so.. Why, Harry? Too thrilled to see a famous fashion model?"

Harry scowled at Hermione, while Ron's nose was scrunched in confusion. He alternately turned his gaze Hermione then to Harry, demanding for answer. "Fashion model? What is that?"

The Gryffindor girl sighed, grabbing her bag then took out a muggle fashion magazine that she borrowed from Daniella few days ago. Coincidentally, the magazine happened to have 3 pages of fashion spreads which Cleora modelled in. Well, actually it wasn't really that coincidence, seeing her cousin was a little obsessed with the young model. Hermione couldn't imagine what reaction she would get from Danielle if she told her Cleora Ramsey went to the same school as her.

"A fashion model is someone whose job is to show clothing or make up by walking on the fashion runway as well as posing on the photographs, Ronald. Here, like this."

"Merlin's beard! Is that her?" Ron's eyes technically almost bulged out as Hermione showed them Cleora's fashion spread. She looked really elegant, wearing a strapless white gown and silver earrings, her long hair were styled in a neat french twist. Seemed like the picture was taken at a Victorian looking balcony, where she posed by leaning on her back against the railing. Her face was absolutely stunning with only a little make up, head slightly turned to the camera with a soft expression on her face and her mouth slightly opened, showing a little bit of her teeth.

After rolling her eyes at how passionate her boyfriend would be when it came to beautiful girls, she turned her gaze to Harry who remained silent. He didn't say anything, just looking at the picture through his spectacles with an interest. And from that moment, Hermione knew that The-Boy-Who-Lived was also amazed as Ron.

She mentally made note to keep Ron away from the new girl.

"Hey mate, if you wanted to go out with her, I'd support you no matter what." Ron finally said, patting Harry on his back with a wicked grin on his face. Harry just stared at him as if Ron had grown two heads.

It was Hermione who once again found herself smacking the back of her boyfriend's head with the magazine. "Ronald Weasley! Why would you even say that, what about Ginny?! She is your sister!"

Ron winced as he stroked at where Hermione had hit him. If he got amnesia some times in the future, it would definitely be Hermione who should take the blame. "Merlin, Hermione! No need to get your knickers in a twist! I was just saying, if he wanted to go out with her, then go on. He doesn't need to feel guilty just because Ginny is my sister."

Rubbing his nose bridge tiredly, Harry tried to came between the two of them. "Guys, seriously. I'm still here, you know. We don't have to discuss about my love life, alright?"

The couple immediately fell silent, sheepishly mumbled their apologies.

* * *

 

"Ah, there you are, Miss Ramsey!"

Cleo was just got off the one of Hogwarts carriages when she caught the sight of Hogwarts' Headmistress walking closer to her. As soon as they arrived at Hogsmeade station earlier, Draco had left her without even saying anything (not even a good bye or good luck!) that kinda made her getting more annoyed at the blond. Not that she enjoyed his company, she didn't. Really. But still, as annoying as he was, Cleo could use some help from him on getting to Hogwarts next! If it wasn't for a half-giant man named Hagrid who told her to get on the carriage, she probably would had been lost somewhere.

She had met some other Hogwarts students on the carriage ride; two Ravenclaw girls named Luna Lovegood and Padma Patil, as well as two Gryffindors named Ginny Weasley and Parvati Patil. Cleo was really thankful that they were all so friendly to her, pretty much the opposite of the albino. Damn it, there he was again in her head.

"We'll see you later, Cleo. Just find us in the Great Hall later, okay? I really hope you will be sorted to Gryffindor!" Ginny told her, hugging her close like she had known her for a long time. Cleo felt emotional for a bit. After she told them about the reason why she didn't go to Hogwarts 7 years ago, she was really surprised these girls didn't even judge her just because of it. Instead, they were encouraging her and promised to help her with her study any time.

"Sure thing. Bye, girls." after waving at her new friends, the brunette turned her attention to the old lady who was now standing next to her. She politely smiled at the old woman. "Good evening, Professor McGonagall."

"Good evening, Miss Ramsey. I trust you have a pleasant journey to Hogwarts?"

Pursing her lips for a second, she recalled at her train ride moment with Draco Malfoy. Pleasant? Not likely. "It was divine, Professor." she finally answered.

"Very well. Now if you follow me, I'll take you to your room. Munchy and your trunks are already there. We must get going as the sorting ceremony will be started in half an hour."

Cleo nodded, then started walking into the castle next to the Professor. There weren't many people there as most of them was likely already at their room to change to their robes. She glanced around her surrounding, the Hogwarts castle looked incredibly amazing. It was sort of dark, but she didn't get any creepy ambience at all because of the dim lights and the moonlight that illuminated through the big, fancy windows.

When they reached the Grand Staircase, Cleo couldn't help but looked around again with her mouth hanging open, completely feeling wonderstruck. There were hundreds of portraits covering the walls and they were moving! Yes, moving! Cleo's jaw dropped again as she noticed that the stairs there were also moving.

"I really hope you'll be careful whenever you step on these stairs, Miss Ramsey. As you can see, they like to change by themselves." Professor McGonagall reminded her firmly. Cleo quickly nodded, silently prayed she would never ever miss the stairs and fall to her death.

Her room was located on the fifth floor. They stood before a portrait of a long greasy haired man with a black robes.

"Miss Ramsey, Professor Snape here will guard your room. Just tell him the password and then he will open the door for you. Try not to give the password to other students, do you understand?" the Headmistress explained, then after getting an affirmative from Cleo, she turned to talk to the portrait. "Good evening, Severus. I'm here to take Miss Ramsey to her room."

Severus Snape was eyeing her from up and down, making Cleo felt a little uncomfortable and cowered behind the Headmistress. "Well, if it wasn't Miss Ramsey. You look absolutely a lot like your mother. Very well. Password?"

"Verus Amor."

The portrait swung backwards.

When they were finally in her new room, Cleo once again found herself staring agape around her surrounding. Her new room was actually looked exactly like her room in London. The ceiling, the bed, her desk, even the walls were also painted in baby blue, exactly like her room back home. She even noticed her laptop on the desk.

"Professor.. why..,"

Professor McGonagall smiled, patting the young lady softly on her shoulder. "I just know you will miss your room so much, Miss Ramsey. So that's why we decorated your room exactly like your old one. As for your laptop, I've charmed it to work perfectly fine without the battery. Oh my word, I forgot about your phone. Would you mind showing me your phone so I can charm it?"

Nodding, Cleo handed the phone to her. Professor McGonagall muttered a spell as she pointed her wand at the phone. A yellow light appeared from the tip of her wand, circling around her mobile phone then disappeared. "There, all done. But remember Miss Ramsey, you can't bring your phone to the classroom. It will be dead by the time it reaches the classroom."

Cleo was close to tears now. She gave the lady a kiss on both of her cheeks. "Thank you so much, Professor. I really appreciate it."

Professor McGonagall blinked several times, not really expecting her new student would kiss her cheeks as a gratitude. Cleora Ramsey was absolutely a sweet girl. "You are welcome, Miss Ramsey. You can change into your robes now. I'll be waiting in the Great Hall."

With that, she was gone.


	4. Not Bloody Gryffindor Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I sort you into Houses  
> because that is what I'm for." J.K. Rowling, Sorting Hat's song (Book 5)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, this isn't beta-ed. Sorry!
> 
> Harry Potter and co isn't mine, except Cleora and other OCs

by me!

"Drakey! Over here!"

Draco groaned in frustration as he entered the Great Hall that filled with students and found Pansy's figure in the crowd, waving hysterically from her seat. He could see a vacant seat between her and Blaise, which presumably was saved for him. Theo and Greg were sitting in front of them, waving their hands also. Draco smirked as he walked through their seat.

Before taking his seat, Draco shifted his gaze around the Great Hall, looking for a certain black hair witch then frowned because she was nowhere to be seen. Wasn't she supposed to be here?

"What's wrong, Drakey? Looking for someone?" Pansy asked, pulling on his robe so that he could sit next to him. Blaise shifted away for a bit, trying to avoid his blonde friend who almost stumbled at him due to Pansy's hard pulling. Theo and Greg merely shook their head at them.

"For fuck's sake, Pansy! Calm your arse, yeah?" Draco grumbled, rubbing his poor back and wondering why the heck girls got abusive toward him today. First, he had gotten slapped loads of time by Cleora and now Pansy pulled him with no mercy! "I wasn't looking for someone, just admiring how bloody well the Great Hall looked after the war. They fixed Hogwarts real good, don't you think?"

Greg shrugged, nonchalantly. "Whatever. I just wish the ceremony will start soon. Man, I'm really hungry."

The four other Slytherins just rolled their eyes.

Draco looked around again, still hoping to find Cleora Ramsey's tall figure in the room, but alas couldn't find her. Earlier when they got off the train, he had left her without saying any word at all. He didn't mean to be rude, no, he was just simply tired and wanted to get to Hogwarts as soon as possible. No, correct that, actually it was more like he wanted to get away from her.

He still remembered how her face looked like when he was about to leave her. The girl looked annoyed, yet Draco could see somehow she was a little disappointed and sad. He suddenly felt a pang of guilty because of this and realise that he shouldn't have leave her like that.

His steel grey eyes accidentally settled on Gryffindor's table and saw the Golden Trio, chatting with other Gryffindors about Merlin knows what. They all looked happy and relieved that The Dark Lord was now defeated, especially Potter.

Memories of the war suddenly emerged on his head.

Dumbledore's calm face when Draco was about to murder him.. His aunt Bella's crazy laugh... Death Eaters meeting... The way Voldemort killed Charity Burbage in his house and he witnessed it right with his eyes.. Room of Requirement.. Vincent Crabbe died..

Draco didn't even notice he was shivering now. He rolled up the sleeves of his robe a little bit, revealing the dark mark on his forearm.

"Mate, you alright?" Blaise asked, putting his hand on one of Draco's shoulder. He took a glance at Pansy, Theo, and Greg who had the same concerned faces then looked at the blond again.

Taking a deep breath and rolled the sleeves back to cover the mark, he replied. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" it was Theo now who asked him.

"Yes, I am! Now shut up before you guys give me a bloody headache." he snapped as he rubbed his temple slowly with a foul expression on his pale face.

At the same time, Professor McGonagall came into the Great Hall, with none other than Cleora Ramsey trailing from behind. Unlike other students that had their uniform under the robes, she still had her muggle outfit underneath her plain black Hogwarts robe without the house badge and colour on it, which usually was given to the first year students before they got sorted to their houses.

"Merlin's beard, that's Cleora Ramsey!" Valeria Caldicott, a sixth year Hufflepuff who was also a muggle-born suddenly stood up from her seat and shouted, looking starstruck.

Draco frowned at the Hufflepuff girl. How the hell did she know her?

"Oh my! Cleora, I'm your biggest fan!" another muggle-born student exclaimed.

His frowned deepened as he turned his sight to Cleora which now had her palm on her flushed red face, clearly appeared to be embarrassed at this. She muttered something to Professor McGonagall who merely laughed softly and patting her shoulder.

 _Biggest fan? What the fuck is wrong here?_ He thought.

He could tell Blaise, Pansy, and other pureblood students had the same puzzled face as him, except for most muggle-borns and some half-bloods in the room. Hell, even Granger, Weasley, Potter, Lovegood, Weaslette, and Patil sisters looked thrilled even though some of them were pureblood!

Who the eff was this girl?

"Ramsey? As in _that_  Ramsey family? Wait, isn't she your fiancée, Draco?" Blaise smirked, nudging the blond on his arm.

Draco snapped for the second time. "She is not my fiancée!"

"She was supposed to, though." Theo added, laughing out loud at the blond facial expression with Greg, Blaise and surprisingly, Pansy too. "Ohh this is interesting. The long lost bride is finally back. I believe congratulations are in order then?"

Draco was just about to reply him with 'bugger off' but held it as he saw Professor McGonagall walked to the podium and started to give her speech.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As you my dear students know, due to the battle that took place in our precious school, I'm afraid to inform you that you are all here to repeat your last year studies. I sincerely hope that you all will put a great effort on your studies this year, especially to my dear seventh year students which will have to take the N.E.W.T.s before the end of the term. I would like to welcome some of new first year students that will be joining us. As usual, you will be sorted into your house shortly." the lady took a deep breath then carried on talking. "Now, unlike some years before, this year we will have a new student joining us in the seventh year. I would like to introduce you to Miss Cleora Iris Ramsey here."

The Great Hall exploded in big applause, especially from muggle-born and half-blood students. Draco just clapped his hand half-heartedly, while Pansy merely rolled her eyes, completely had no idea why an earth this girl got so much attention. She too had read about this girl on Daily Prophet during her breakfast today. What was so special about her besides her cowardice family and their muggle life?

"Now Miss Ramsey, would you mind sitting on this chair while I put the sorting hat on your head?" Professor McGonagall asked to the young girl who was pretty much just standing at the back. She nodded then headed toward the small chair that was placed in the middle. The black hair witch looked around her and then suddenly her gaze fell on the blond. Brown met grey, their eyes were locked for almost five seconds. Seeing her gave him the hard eye, Draco hurriedly turned away from her. He instantly knew she was definitely still mad at him.

After Professor McGonagall put the sorting head on her head, The Slytherin Prince couldn't help but wanted to laugh as he saw her eyes widened in shock when the sorting hat started talking, kinda reminded him of Weasley when he was being sorted. Unlike Weasel who didn't bother to hide his horrified face, she was trying hard to stifle her surprised squeal by biting her lower lip and relaxed her face.

"Ah! Miss Ramsey! I had been wondering why didn't you show up seven years ago.. Never mind. Let's see.. hmm yes, I can see that you are quite cunning.. Perhaps I would better place you in Slytherin.. Hmm wait, I can sense bravery coming from you.. Yes, this is quite difficult..,"

Blaise groaned, "Oh man, not bloody Gryffindor again. Please don't send her to Gryffindor. There's no way Draco's fiancée happen to be a Gryffindor."

 _Amen to that, Zabini._  Draco inwardly prayed, then glared at him when he realised that his friend was teasing him.

".. alright. Better be... GRYFFINDOR!"

Both guys now grunted in irritation. What was it with Gryffindor always got 'famous' people? Bollocks!

Still annoyed his supposed to be fiancée was being sorted to his house's enemy, he stared at her making her way to the Gryffindor's table and being hugged by a very happy Weaslette. Wait, when did they ever meet? He frowned again.

"You know Draco, it's a shame you aren't engaged with her anymore. She is definitely easy on the eyes." said Theo. "Has your parents hear about this?"

Draco just simply shrugged, not really sure what to say. He saw Cleora now sitting next to Potter, talking to him with a smile on her face. Unwittingly, he growled at that sight.

Blaise chuckled and smirked, "Draco, Draco, getting possessive, aren't you?"

"Sod off, Blaise."

* * *

_**Malfoy Manor** _

Narcissa Malfoy hurriedly making her way to her bedroom with Daily Prophet in hand, her heels clicking on the cold marble floor of Malfoy Manor. She found her husband, Lucius Malfoy, half-lying on the bed while he had his back against the headboard reading-strangely enough-Witch Weekly. Her husband turned his attention to her with a scowl on his face.

"Goodness, Narcissa. What's gotten into you?"

His wife merely ignored him, giving Lucius a copy of Daily Prophet. "Lucius, have you seen this?"

Lucius Malfoy furrowed his eyebrows then shook his head. "I thought you knew I stopped reading that rubbish ever since they wrote that nasty article about our family two weeks ago."

"Trust me, darling. I _know_  you want to read this." she said with a reassured smile, flipping through the pages until she found the article she meant.

Grudgingly, he took the newspaper from Narcissa's delicate hand. His grey eyes were moving left to right over and over as he read. His bored expression was now gone, replaced by his serious face. He couldn't believe it.

His best mate was finally back.

"Look at that, Lucius! I can't believe that's little Cleo. Oh my, she has grown into such a beautiful young woman!" she cooed, sighing at the moving picture on Daily Prophet. She had always thought her ickle baby Cleora would turn out looking like a fine woman, absolutely perfect for her son and most importantly perfect to be the next Lady Malfoy.

Lucius rolled his eyes, recalling how affectionate Narcissa used to be toward the youngest Ramsey eighteen years ago. Nonetheless, he had to agree with his wife. Stephanos and Luisa certainly had a beautiful daughter.

"Well, seems like we shall pay a visit to Hogwarts tomorrow, my dear wife." Lucius told his wife with a smirk.


	5. Insufferable Git

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I don't hate men, they just sometimes make me mad."- Eminem (reversed, originally "I don't hate women")

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same as previous chapter

Cleo was definitely late for her first class.

She mentally cursed herself for spending half of her beauty sleep time watching films on her laptop, now she was about to be hexed by Professor Slughorn for coming late. Well, she wasn't sure about that yet, but she truly hoped that the man would understand and just let her get by without throwing curses at her or whatsoever.

Quickly rushing to her wardrobe and found her set of Gryffindor uniform which she had no idea how an earth it got there, she finally striped her sleeping gown off.

She took a glance at her appearance by the mirror after she was done dressing, admiring the way she looked now with the Gryffindor uniform and honestly thought she didn't look bad at all. Cleo gave her reflection a smile.  _Look at you, Cleora. You are actually a witch now._

Next seconds, her smile faded as she realised something.

First, she hadn't showered yet.

Second, her long and wavy black hair were a complete mess seeing that she had just woken up.

Third, she was still late for Potions.

Fourth, she had missed her breakfast.

"Damn it!" she cursed aloud. There was nothing could piss Cleora Ramsey off except for missing breakfast. As if on cue, her stomach growled all of sudden, causing her to groan in exasperation for the second time. Bloody brilliant. How could she survive Potions without having her breakfast first?

Trying to ignore her 'singing' stomach, she finally decided to just tie her hair in messy bun without brushing them and applied her favourite perfume on both of her wrists, her neck, and also some on her uniform so that people wouldn't notice she had skipped shower. She frantically shook her head. Joanna, her assistant manager would throw a fit if she knew about this.

"Well, well, Miss Ramsey. Coming late on your first day?" Severus Snape's portrait sneered at Cleora as she was making her way out of the room carrying her navy blue satchel. "If I was still a teacher, I would have to take 10 points from Gryffindor for your tardiness."

Cleo tilted her head slightly. "You were a teacher? What subject did you teach?"

"Indeed, I was. I taught Potions and Defence Against The Dark Arts for a year before taking charge of Albus Dumbledore as a Headmaster due to his... death." he somberly said. Snape was one hundred percent sure this young girl had no idea that he was actually the one who killed Dumbledore, so instead of telling her further he just stared at her.

Noticing that her face fell at the word 'Potions', he immediately knew. "Your first class is Potions, isn't it?" he asked again with narrowed eyes. He watched as she gulped and grinned sheepishly, then roared. "What are you waiting for, silly girl?! Run along to your class!"

"Yes, Sir!" jumping slightly at his voice, she yelped while giving the portrait two-fingers salute and took off in a flash.

* * *

 

Minerva McGonagall pressed her lips into a thin line as she had her eyes fixed on the former Death Eater and his wife standing before her office door. The new Headmistress of Hogwarts didn't really expect them to be here, especially at 9.30 in the morning. She just hoped this couple wouldn't cause any trouble.

"Good morning, Lucius, Narcissa. To what do I owe this pleasure?" Professor McGonagall politely asked, gesturing them to have a seat in front of her desk which the Malfoy couple complied. "Is it something to do with young Mr. Malfoy?"

Narcissa waved her hand softly and gave her a smile. "Oh no, Minerva. We believe our Draco is just fine. We aren't here for him."

"Then pray tell, why are you two here?"

Lucius smirked, causing Professor McGonagall to froze in her seat. This didn't seem good at all. Malfoy family may have defected from the dark side, but the former Transfiguration teacher actually didn't trust their change enough.

"I think you know why, Minerva. We read the Daily Prophet yesterday."

Blast it, she knew that was the reason. "Ah, so it's about Miss Ramsey, correct? What about the girl?"

"Well, we wish to see her," Narcissa answered, still with her polite smile, thinking maybe the former of Gryffindor's Head House would just let them to see their long lost goddaughter if she politely asked. Lucius merely nodded.

But much to her dismay, Minerva McGonagall didn't seem to agree with her plea. "I'm afraid it can't be done, Mrs. Malfoy. I've promised to her parents to keep her safe during her stay here. With your family reputation, forgive me, I don't think it's safe for her."

Offended, Lucius instantly stood up from his seat with a rage expression on his pale face, "Why, you--" he started to shout but unfortunately Narcissa had restrained him by pulling his hand. Lucius looked down at her wife shaking her head while mouthing 'no' then finally sat back down on his seat, mumbling his apology.

"Please, we haven't seen Cleora for almost eighteen years. I'm sure you know very well that Stephanos and Luisa were our good friends, they still are. Do you honestly think we will do any harm to their daughter? Please believe us, Minerva. Besides, don't you think Cleora deserve to know who her godparents are?" the Malfoy lady said again.

McGonagall pondered, wondering if it was okay to let them meet the girl. But on the other side, looking at how Narcissa Malfoy practically begged to her, she couldn't help but feel a little remorse if she didn't allow them. McGonagall could see how much love this Lady Malfoy had for the youngest Ramsey.

Letting out a defeated sigh, she finally said. "Very well. I'll take you two to Miss Ramsey."

"Thank you, Minerva. We really appreciate this." Narcissa said gratefully, grabbing her husband's arm to follow behind Professor McGonagall who was making her way to the other portrait of Severus Snape that was also placed in Headmistress' Office. "Oh, Severus! Good morning," she greeted happily to the portrait. Beside her, Lucius just gave the portrait a curt nod.

Snape smirked at the three of them. "Ah, look at what we have here. I take it you two are here to see ickle Cleora?" he mocked using Cleo's endearment name given by Narcissa. The blond woman merely gave him a dirty look, while Lucius secretly trying to hide his amused smirk. He never liked that name anyway.

"Yes, Severus. Can you please tell Miss Ramsey to visit my office? Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy would like to see her." McGonagall asked the portrait.

"I'm afraid I can't, Minerva. Miss Ramsey had just left her room for Potions."

McGonagall rubbed her temple slowly, completely forgot that the first lesson had started since half an hour ago. "Ah yes, yes. Well, in that case I'll just ask Horace to send her here. Thank you, Severus."

Dear Merlin, this was definitely going to be a long day.

* * *

 

Cleo honestly thought her first day at Hogwarts couldn't get any better. Coming late to the class was embarrassing enough for her. As a model, she was taught to come on time on every occasion, whether it was a photo-shoot, go sees, or casting call. Now that she was late, she had another thing to deal with.

She didn't know where the Potions classroom was. Of course, she remembered that the class was located in the dungeon, but she didn't exactly know where in the dungeon the class was.

And here she was, getting lost in the creepy, dark, quiet, and cold Hogwarts dungeon. No one was there to ask, not a single person. Or ghost.

She grimaced, remembering her first encounter with Nearly Headless Nick after the fest last night. God, that was absolutely embarrassing, she was freaking out and such that Ginny and Hermione had to calm her down. Some of her fellow Gryffindor were laughing at her, except for The-Boy-Who-Lived aka Harry Potter who merely chuckled and-bless him-also helped by telling his friends to stop laughing. So yes, she'd rather not see any Hogwarts ghosts at all for now.

Cleo sighed heavily as she leaned her back against the cold dungeon wall. All of this just made her frustrated and desperately wanted to cry or better yet just leave this bloody castle already. She missed her parents, her home, her friends, and her muggle life as a model although it was tiring the hell out of her.

Yes, Cleora Ramsey was a witch. There was no way to deny that.

But then again, she didn't belong here anymore.

The newly sorted Gryffindor could feel her tears freely rolling down her cheeks. Feeling tired after pacing around the dungeon looking for that blasted class like a hundred times, she finally brought down her body to sit on the cold floor and just silently cried there. Breaking down, wondering why did she agree to come to Hogwarts in the first place. She'd rather had tons of photo shoots than this.

_God, this is pathetic, crying in the corridor like a freak. What if someone.._

"What the hell are you doing down there, Ramsey? Counting dust on the floor?"

A familiar voice was suddenly heard. She instantly stopped crying, pulling her head up from her knees and found a pair of beautiful grey eyes staring at her with an utter bewilderment.

She groaned aloud. "Oh God, not you again!"

Draco Malfoy arched a brow while crossing his arms over his chest and scowled. "Are you fucking kidding me? I'm the one who should've said that to you, Ramsey. By the way, you haven't answered my question, what the- wait, are you crying?"

Cleo quickly wiped off her tears and stood up, dusting her robes off. "No, I'm not!"

"Then how come your eyes are wet and red?"

Oh dear, this blondie albino..

"I just caught something in my eye, it's making me teary. God, this place is so dusty. Whoever live in this place anyway?" she whined, pretending to rub her eyes and blinked rapidly as if there was actually dust in it.

But the Slytherin just stared at her with his suspicious eyes, not really buying what she said. He knew that she was lying to him but didn't want to press further. Not that he cared anyway.

"Your Dad." he finally replied coolly, dropping his arms to his sides.

"What?"

"Yes, your Dad, Ramsey. He was a Slytherin, right? He used to sleep here, like me and other Slytherin students."

"Wait, Slytherin's Common Room is here in the dungeon?!" she spluttered, not really believing her ears. Her dad used to sleep in this horrendous place! Thank God, she didn't get sorted in Slytherin.

"Mmhm. Ten points for Miss Ramsey. Now if you please excuse me, I have some place to be. Good day, Ramsey."

The blond turned his back and started to walk away.

"Hey, blondie! Where are you going?!"

"Potions." he simply answered without turning his back.

Cleo felt like she had found an oasis in the middle of sahara. Without thinking, she hurriedly followed Draco before she could lose him but still put a little distance between them so that he wouldn't notice.

As they walked in silent, Cleo secretly diverted her attention by looking at the blond in front. Once again, she had to admit that he was a definition of perfection when it came to his body. He was tall, lean but muscular. She had no idea why he wasn't wearing his robes but somehow felt content about it because she could get a good look of his toned and slightly broad shoulder underneath his white oxford shirt. Wondering how would it feel to ran her hand through his toned back, her gazed slowly lowered to his waist and stopped at his bum.

Dear God. Draco Malfoy definitely had the nicest bum she'd ever seen on guys. Not even her fellow male models could ever rivalled his.

Draco, who could sense that he was being followed by the girl, suddenly halted and turned away causing her to accidentally bump into his hard chest (she was too busy checking him out anyway).

Hell, he even smelled good too.

"What the heck, Malfoy? Traffic light in front?" she grumbled as she rubbed her poor forehead.

Draco actually had no idea what an earth traffic light was but didn't intend to ask about it. Must be a muggle thing. "Okay, who's stalking now, Ramsey?"

"Excuse me? I'm not stalking you!"

"Then can you explain this?" he asked again, gesturing to both of them. "If you weren't following me, you wouldn't bump into me when I stopped walking."

She sighed in defeat. "Fine. I was following you, but I definitely was not stalking you alright? I have Potions too and can't find where the class is. Happy?"

"Well, you could've bloody told me before, no need to creeping me out like this." he said with a sneer on his pale face.

Cleo desperately wanted to roll her eyes at him. Yes, Draco Malfoy maybe had the nicest arse ever she'd ever seen on guys, but he was still an insufferable git that she would love to smack on the head. "My apologies, Your Highness. Now would you do me a favour and show me the way to Potions? Why are you still here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be in class? And why aren't you wearing your robes?"

_Seems like Gryffindor just got another Granger. Merlin, she is really nosy._  Draco thought as he massaged his temple slowly, suddenly started to feel dizzy because of her ex-fiancée's presence. "Do you ever shut up for a minute?"

She was about to retort back, but unfortunately was interrupted by a man voice.

"Mr. Malfoy! Miss Ramsey! Thank Merlin, you're both here. I was beginning to worry because you didn't show up in my class." Professor Slughorn said, slowly approaching his students with a relieved expression on his wrinkled and chubby face.

Draco gave him a small smile as he took a glance at the Ramsey girl beside him for a second then went back to the Potions teacher. "I'm sorry Professor Slughorn, I was actually heading there when I found Miss Ramsey here crying alone. Seems like she has no idea where the class is and got lost."

Cleo instantly gaped and stared at the blond in disbelieve. Oh the nerve of this albino!

"Were you, my dear? Didn't Minerva give you directions before?" the Professor asked, looking worried. When Cleo just simply shook her head, he added again. "Dear Merlin, Minerva tends to forget things sometimes. Don't worry, my child. I'm not mad at you. Actually, I was asked by her to send you to her office now. You have guests there waiting for you. Come on, off you go. Head to the Headmistress' Tower near the Entrance Courtyard, you will find a big gargoyle there. Oh yes, the password is Albus Dumbledore."

The girl nodded, hurriedly excused herself and gone within seconds. Professor Slughorn then turned his attention to the Slytherin. "As for you Mr. Malfoy, kindly head to the class now. You've missed half of the lesson."

Still wondering who the guests the bald Professor mentioned before, Draco finally nodded and made his way to Potions with Professor Slughorn trailing behind him.

 

 

 


	6. The Malfoys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Welcome to the universe. Cross the line, redefine, lose your mind." - 30 Seconds To Mars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not beta-ed yet! I apologise for the inconvenience :)

Going to the library was always one of Draco's hobbies. He may had been known as a stuck up bully by all over Hogwarts students, but honestly he wasn't  _that_ bad like they always thought. He liked being in the library, enjoying the calm ambience while reading books or sometimes well, shag on the corner of restricted section with some random girls at night (Well, they didn't call him the Slytherin Sex God for nothing). But that was before the war though, Draco wasn't sure girl were still interested in him now that they knew he was an ex Death Eater. Not that he cared anyway; they probably would come back worshipping him in no time.

He was currently doing his Potions essay on Elixir to Induce Euphoria that Professor Slughorn gave earlier in double Potions when Blaise barged into the library with a magazine in his hand. Upon spotting Draco, he walked down to him with a smirk that made Draco felt suspicious.

"Been smoking those muggle illegal drugs, haven't you you Blaise? You look awfully cheerful." Draco teased him, closing his book and put his quill down. Only joking, of course.

The Italian just gave him a smirk then pulled out a chair so that he could sit in front of the blond. "I'm surprised you know about those things, considering you loathe muggle more than me." he tutted, putting down the magazine he had been carried on the table and pushed it toward his friend. "Speaking of muggle, check this out."

Draco just stared at the magazine with no interest. He didn't think he had seen this magazine before. There was a picture of a smiling woman, which he didn't have any slight idea who that could be and some headlines written on it, mostly about women fashion. It looked really high class and expensive, something that his mother usually read. But judging by how the picture didn't move, Draco could presume that this was a muggle magazine. Thus, there was no way his mother would read that, not even a glance.

But why would Blaise show this to him? Since when did he read muggle magazine, and even worse, muggle magazine?

"What the fuck are you doing with women magazine, Blaise Zabini?"

Blaise barked out a laugh seeing his fellow Slytherin looked at him as if he had grown two heads, then immediately apologised to Madam Pince who had sent him a death glare for being loud in the library.

Draco merely smirked at that. Served you right, tosser.

Muttering incoherently about the librarian, Blaise flipped through the pages and once he stopped, he showed Draco the two pages where there were some of particular black haired witch's pictures on it, wearing a long Slytherin green dress with a black belt on the mid section. It was low cut on the front side, which exposed some parts of her breasts but mind you, she didn't look cheap at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. She looked stunning with her French bun hairstyle and little make up. Elegant, yet innocent at the same time that Draco couldn't even take his eyes off of this picture. He even felt his jaw dropped a little, especially upon seeing her, ehem, half- exposed chest. What, he was still a normal guy after all.

Aware of the amused smirk that his friend was giving him, Draco tried to pull himself together. "That's the Ramsey girl, isn't it?" he asked flatly, trying not to seem interested but failed miserably.

"Your ex- bride, yes. Turns out she's famous in the muggle world as what they call a fashion model," Blaise explained with a nod, ignoring Draco's murderous face when he referred her by 'ex-bride'. "It makes sense now why some of muggle borns were acting crazy yesterday."

_That also explained why she thought I was stalking her and fucking beat me_. The blond's expression turned sour at that thought. "Where did you get this?"

"Well, I overheard some sixth year girls talking about Cleora Ramsey at the courtyard and thanks to my devastatingly good looks my friend, they agreed to give this to me." he said, puffing his chest in smug manner. Truth to be told, they actually just lent it to him for a while. However, being a Slytherin himself, of course Blaise didn't plan to return it back.

Draco smirked again. "Your devastatingly good looks are nothing compare to mine, Zabini."

"Aha! Still a narcissistic bastard, I see." Blaise chuckled, shaking his head. His face turned serious afterwards. "Have your parents said anything, mate? I assumed they've probably known about this since Ramsey's family comeback was actually on the Daily Prophet yesterday."

Shifting his gaze back to one of the picture that had her smiling, the blond shook his head while running his hand through the back of his neck. "Dunno, I haven't got any letter from them, but you're probably right, Blaise."

"Think they'll continue your engagement after this? If I were you, I wouldn't mind really. I mean mate, look at that chest. Did you see her legs yesterday? Oh man, bloody long and sexy! Oh the things I'd do to her..." Blaise was practically ranting now while moving his hands like a true Italian. Only Merlin knows what was it on his perverted minds.

Draco instantly made a disgusted face. How the hell did he know that? She was wearing her robes during the ceremony, for Salazar Slytherin's sake! It was most likely impossible to get a good look of her legs. Unlike him, who actually got a chance to see her in muggle jeans and Merlin's beard, she did have nice legs.

"You are such a fucking pervert, mate. I'm telling you."

"Oi, speak for yourself, you are just as perverted as I am, you twat!" the Italian protested, not realising that his voice had gone up and caused Madam Pince to once again shot him a threatening glare with a "shh!" as bonus. Blaise mumbled his apology for the second time. He may be a Slytherin, but still there was nothing scarier than a pissed off librarian.

Grinning, Draco leaned back on his chair with his head resting on his arms. "I don't know what you're talking about, Blaise. You're clearly the one who have perverted mind here. Besides, Cleora Ramsey is too nosy for my liking. Almost like Granger, but much better in physical shape." he replied, obviously wasn't aware that he had said too much.

The blonde Slytherin silently cursed himself as he watched Blaise's expression changed from utter shocked to mischievous next seconds. "Wait, how did you even know that? Is there anything you haven't told me, Draco Lucius Malfoy?"

"Gahh! Alright, she was in my compartment yesterday after you left... Oh, wipe that fucking look off your face, tosser. She said everywhere else is full." Irritated, Draco grabbed his quill from the table and threw it at Blaise, who dodged the poor object with a wicked grin on his face. "Swear to Merlin, I didn't know who she was until she introduced herself. Well, I talked to her again this morning, found her crying in the dungeon just because she got lost. Pathetic, isn't she?"

"Ouch. That's pretty harsh, mate." Blaise tutted.

Draco just shrugged, his eyes bored to the magazine again. Although he found Cleora Ramsey nauseating, he had to admit that she really had a nice smile. Draco wasn't the type of guy who easily found things adorable. However, when he noticed the way her eyes squinted when she laughed at something the Weasel said during the feast last night, he frankly found himself smiling as well from afar. Only for two seconds though before he regained his composure again.

This girl was practically a muggle, for crying out loud!

He and his family may have changed their perceptions toward muggles, but letting this pureblood-turned-muggle into their family line? Absolutely not. Draco grimaced as he imagined how angry his father would be if he found out about his bestriend's family status. Well, let's just say he'd rather not to think about it.

A hand was shot right in front of his face, completely dismissing his thoughts. "Hellooo, earth to Draco!"

Draco let out a sigh. "Sorry, just lost in thoughts for a second. Mind if I keep this?" he replied, pointing at the magazine with his chin.

Standing up from his chair, Blaise answered. "Of course, mate. I meant to give it to you anyway."

"Cheers, mate."

"Alright, I'm off for lunch then. You coming?"

"I'm not hungry. You go on then, see you in Charms."

Blaise grinned while nodded knowingly. "Ahh I definitely can smell a wedding soon. Later, lover boy!" he teased him for the last time then took off from the library in a flash before Draco could hex him into next year.

* * *

 

Meanwhile, instead of going back to Potions, in the end Cleo finally chose to just go to the Great Hall and waited for her friends there. She inwardly laughed at herself for skipping class purposely, something that she had never done before back in her school unless she had to due to her job as a model. But in her defence, since it was almost twelve o'clock and the bell would ring soon, she didn't think it was necessary to go back there, not to mention the time she would consume in order to find the class. Besides, she was famished too.

There weren't many people when she got there, only some of students sitting on their own house table while chattering, playing wizard chess, or reading. She caught the sight of two of her fellow Gryffindor smiling at her, which she replied with a friendly smile as she took a seat and let herself slumped over the table.

God, her first day in Hogwarts had been horrible so far. Not only she accidentally skipped her breakfast and got lost too, she also met the parents of a certain blond git that had been getting on her nerves for these past two days. She sighed, closing her eyes as she recalled her meeting with the Malfoy earlier.

_At first she thought the guests that Professor Slughorn meant were her parents, thought it was almost impossible considering she just talked to her parents through the phone last night and they didn't even mention about visiting her. But still, one could only hope right?_

_Much to her dismay, it wasn't her parents figure when she stepped her feet on McGonagall's office. Instead, it was a marriage couple, which Cleo presumably were in the same age as her parents._

_The woman, which Cleo thought was really beautiful with her slim and tall body was practically beaming at her. She looked really elegant, wearing a stunning and no doubt, expensive dark green robes in contrast of her blonde hair. Her husband wasn't much different from her. He was devastatingly handsome for a man on his forties, piercing grey eyes, aristocrat face, platinum blond hair, and the way he smirked... All of the sudden, Cleo really wished she was at Potions instead. He scared her somehow._

_Hold up. This man's face was actually familiar with her and there was only one person that appeared on her head just by looking at this man._

_"Oh, Lucius! Look at her!" the woman gushed, strutting closer to Cleo with bright eyes and stopped just before her. "Cleora darling, do you remember who we are?"_

_Cleo bit her bottom lip and backed away from her a little bit, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Who the heck were they?_

_Moving her gaze to Professor McGonagall who actually seemed really worried, she answered with a shook._

_"There, there Narcissa. Look, you are scaring the girl, darling." Lucius came behind Narcissa, reaching at his wife's hand so she wouldn't scare the confused girl away. He whispered something to his wife, which she replied by an affirmative nod and smiled._

_Cleo stared at them with an utter bewilderment as she tried to figure out who her guests were. As far as she remembered, her parents never mentioned anything about them before nor she would get a visit from them. Then again, that wouldn't be possible since her parents hadn't even keep in contact with anyone in the wizarding world, even with her grandparents whom she only saw through their old pictures. McGonagall was the first person ever that her parents even contacted prior to her family's disappearance and it even took sixteen years to do that. How did the Professor do it, Cleo didn't even know._

_Lucius turned his head back to the young girl and started to say. "Miss Ramsey, I sincerely apologise for my wife behavior, she tends to be really excited when it comes to meeting someone she hasn't seen for years, especially our old friends."_

_That actually triggered something on her brain._

_Old friends. Grey eyes. Blond hair. Aristocratic face features._

_Oh hell, no._

_"Let me introduce ourselves. My name is…,"_

_No way, they couldn't be…_

_"… Lucius Malfoy. And this is my wife, Narcissa Malfoy." the man finished his sentence, looking at his wife for a second then back again at Cleo with a polite smile._

_Well, shit._

_Cleo inwardly grimaced, never thought she would meet Draco Malfoy's parents this soon. It was official, her first day at Hogwarts had just gotten worse and worse. It wasn't like she didn't want to meet her parents' friends, but it was the fact that they were the parents of the guy who Cleo really wanted to smack on the head that bothered her._

_Did he even know that his parents were here?_

_Running a hand through her wave, she quickly wore a fake smile and finally said with an exaggerated joy. "Oh, nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy! Draco told me you two were friends with my parents back then."_

_Narcissa's face brightened more at this. "You met our son Draco?" she asked, stealing a glance at her smirking husband that Cleo couldn't miss._

_"Yes, I sat with him on the train actually." she replied, smiling still while deep inside she was extremely confused. What was that all about?_

_"Oh splendid! I hope he didn't give you a hard time, darling. Draco can be really infuriating sometimes."_

You don't say, _Cleo said to herself. "No, he didn't, Mrs. Malfoy. He was… decent, really."_

_The Malfoy Lady smiled and took a step forward to hug her, much to Cleo's surprise. Her brown eyes widened and her body went stiff for a moment before she relaxed herself and hugged the blond woman back. She took a glance at Lucius and Professor McGonagall. There was a thin smile showing on the Headmistress's guarded face upon seeing the girl and her godmother reunion. Lucius, on the other side, was remained silent but seemed content nonetheless._

_Truthfully, Narcissa Malfoy actually seemed like a nice woman despite of her son's horrible attitude._ Malfoy must have gotten that from his father then,  _she assumed as she eyed Lucius once again. She wasn't even sure, but God, she got a shiver just looking at that man._

_Narcissa finally released her. "I can't believe I've finally met you. Oh Merlin, you've grown up into such a fine young woman! My ickle Cleora."_

_Cleo's smile instantly died and she noticed that Lucius Malfoy was now trying to stifle his laugh by covering his mouth with his palm. Oh no, she was definitely NOT ickle! She was 5' 8" tall, for God's sake! Although she had to admit that she wasn't that tall compared to some of her fellow models who were around 5' 9" or more._

_"Thank you, Mrs. Malfoy."_

_"Oh dear, do call me Narcissa. We're your godparents after all."_

_Again, her eyes enlarged at the woman's statement. "R-really?" she asked, flabbergasted._

_"Why yes, Cleora. We are. Don't your parents ever tell you that?" it was Lucius now who spoke._

_The young model shook her head again._

_Noticing that her new student was now looking stunned with the news, Professor McGonagall felt the need to step into their conversation. "I hate to interrupt this, but don't you think it's best for you three to sit down for a while? Looks like young Miss Ramsey would need that." she said sternly, giving the Malfoy couple a hard look._

_"Oh yes, yes! You're right, Minerva. Come on Cleora darling." Narcissa said, taking Cleo's hand and guided her to the nearest visitor chairs. Lucius followed suit._

_Once they were seated, Lucius questioned her. "So, if you don't mind me asking, where have you been all these years, Cleora? We had tried to find you and your family all over the world but alas, no luck. Care to tell?"_

_Cleo merely sighed. Oh not again… she was so sick of telling people about their whereabouts during these past sixteen years. She really wanted to tell the man to ask their son instead since he knew, but really couldn't. She turned to Narcissa, who appeared to be interested with her answer, and then to the Headmistress as if asking her whether it was best to tell them or not._

_From the other side of her seat, Professor McGonagall seemed a little reluctant but gave her an assuring nod nonetheless._

_"We… we have been lived in London actually, we still do."_

_The Malfoy couple frowned. "Is that so? Then why couldn't we find you?"_

_"Honestly Mr. Malfo—I mean, Lucius—I can't answer much about that. I don't know whether Muggle London was included in your searching, but to answer your question, we've been living as muggle ever since. That's probably the reason why you couldn't find us."_

_She watched as Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy's expression changed. Shocked and horrified clearly showed on Narcissa's flawless face, while Lucius looked a little repulsed with her answer. His jaw clenched, like he was truly angry at something._

_And she understood._

_Her parents always told her that not all purebloods were nice toward muggles and half-blood, regarded themselves as superior and believed that people who weren't born from pureblood families were unworthy of doing magic. Judging by how the couple reacted, Cleo could assume they were one of them._

_Lucius started to talk. His face didn't appear to be tensed anymore. "It finally makes sense now why you and your family were untraceable. We didn't check Muggle London just because I didn't expect Stephanos would actually… do that. He was a Slytherin, after all."_

_"Yeah, Dad wasn't actually thrilled with his own idea, but he had to, I guess. For our family safety." Cleo replied, leaving the part where actually her parents had grown to love their muggle life, particularly her mother. "Since you were good friends with my parents, does that mean you were in Slytherin too with my dad?" she asked, trying to change the subject._

_Narcissa Malfoy smiled fondly, caressing her goddaughter's black hair. "Yes, darling. Lucius and I were both in Slytherin with your father. As for your mum, she was in Ravenclaw. I'm sure they have told you that. Speaking of which, what house did you get in?"_

_"Gryffindor."_

_"Gryffindor?!" the Malfoy couple nearly hissed with distaste at her answer, causing Professor McGonagall to shot them a dark look from the other side._

_"If you're going to insult my house, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy, I can assure that you would go to St. Mungos instead of Malfoy Manor after this." threatened the Professor before throwing a wink to the new Gryffindor._

_Cleo let out a giggle seeing the couple's face turned red, clearly embarrassed from being scolded by the old Professor in front of their goddaughter._

_"Ah yes, sorry for that. We didn't mean to be impolite, Minerva." Lucius politely said, clearing his throat. "Now tell me, Cleora. How are they doing? And what do they do in… your muggle life?"_

"Cleora Ramsey?"

A voice was heard, instantly pulled her from the thought and noticed that the hall was now pretty filled with students. She slowly lifted her head and whirled around to find a sixth- year Hufflepuff who shouted her name during the sorting ceremony, standing behind her with a sheepish smile on her face, clearly felt bad cause she had interrupted the model from whatever she was doing. Or probably felt bad at how tired and dreadful Cleo looked now.

"Yes, can I help you?" Cleo asked, trying to smile at the girl even though deep inside she wanted to snap the hell out of her. Darn this model thing that obliged her to be always nice in public, even when she wasn't in her best days.

"Oh Merlin, I still can't believe you're here! You don't even know how much I adore you! Oh and can I just say that you're even prettier in real life?!" all of sudden, the girl squealed while jumping a little with her hands clasped together. "Oh sorry for rambling, I normally don't get like this but I was just so happy. I'm Valeria, by the way." she said again, much more calmer this time as she offered her hand toward the Gryffindor.

Smiling, Cleo politely took her hand to shake. "Cleo."

Valeria obviously was in wonderstruck now, staring widely at Cleo with mouth open. Cleo also felt that the girl didn't seem to want to let her hand go. "Careful, you don't wanna catch a fly there." she added, laughing softly. The annoyance was gone, replaced by amusement. This girl was just adorable.

The Hufflepuff girl quickly closed her mouth. A shade of red appeared on her heart-shape face when she realised that she just made a fool oh herself in front of her favourite model. "Sorry again. Uhmm… I was wondering, would you mind to give me your autograph?"

"Sure, where do you want me to sign?"

"Here," Valeria gave her a blank parchment, a quill, and an ink bottle that she had taken from her bag earlier.

Cleo stared at those oddly, completely forgot that the people here didn't use pens and pencils to write. However, she still took them all from the girl and put it on the table.

"You know, I never thought that you were actually a witch." Valeria started to talk again when Cleo was dipping the quill into the ink. Cleo didn't bother to reply and instead, just moved on to sign the parchment, adding ' _to Valeria, thank you for being adorable. Love, Cleora Ramsey._ ' above it.

"Here you go," Cleo gave the parchment to the brown haired Hufflepuff.

"Oh! Thank you so much, you are the best, Cleo!"

Cleo let out a laugh at this. "You're welcome."

After collecting her quill and ink bottle into her bag, Valeria happily went back to her own table, accidentally pushed Harry Potter who just arrived at the Great Hall in the way.

He was alone and his hair seemed to look messier than usual due to the stress during Potions. His face brightened when he spotted her.

Ever since Hermione showed Cleora's editorial spread to him yesterday, Harry couldn't help but thought that Cleora Ramsey was really beautiful, even more beautiful when he saw her walking down the hall for the first time. He wouldn't deny that he felt a slight attraction toward the girl and actually felt grateful she was placed in Gryffindor, yet didn't understand why in the name of Merlin she got her own quarters. Wasn't she supposed to mingle with them?

"Hey." he greeted as he took a seat next to her. Then his green eyes fell on her disheveled bun hair and tired face. "You look like hell. What happened to you?" he commented, boyishly grinning.

Cleo rolled her eyes even though there was a smile on her face. "Ha- ha. Funny, I should ask you the same, Harry."

Harry merely shrugged as he smiled lopsidedly. "Potions, driving me crazy that one. Where were you? I didn't see you in class."

"McGonagall's office. I had visitors." she answered while taking off the hair bobble, letting her hair down and then retied them into a neat ponytail instead. "Better?"

He nodded when in truth she actually still looked beautiful no matter what state her hair in. And frankly, Harry much preferred the messy bun. "So how's your first day been?"

She told him everything that had happened, from she first woke up late this morning until the part where she went to McGonagall's office, though she didn't really mention the identity of her visitors. Harry somehow was curious at that but didn't really want to press her further and just laughed out loud at how miserable (as she called it) her first day been.

"Ugh not funny, Harry! Can you imagine if Bloody Baron showed up while I got lost in the dungeon? I could probably die from heart attack and hunt you guys." she protested, slapping Harry's arm lightly in order to stop him from laughing at her. "Where are Ron and Hermione anyways?"

"Dunno, I wouldn't worry too much though. They're probably having a hot and passionate snogging moment somewhere." he answered after he was able to contained his laugh.

She made a face at that, but her cheeks were flushed red. It was unbelievably cute.

"Right. That's… too much information, Harry. Thank you."

Harry laughed again, so freely that he forgot when was the last time he laughed like this after Dumbledore's death and during the war. Though he had to admit the mental image of Ron and Hermione getting it on in the broom closet kind of made him gag too.

"Tell you what, why don't I show you around after class? We can go to Gryffindor Common Room afterwards. What do you think?"

"That would be wonderful. Thank you, Harry." she grinned.


End file.
